384 BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



Future synthetic polymers will be devised to meet the intimate require- 

 ments of many diverse applications. Engineering will be more precise and 

 control of our materials will be based more on scientific methods. It is 

 romantic to read from a recent popular book "you see him in his shirt sleeves 

 cutting off a piece of rubber with his knife, smelling it, biting it and stretch- 

 ing it. Then he either looks satisfied or worried. Laboratory reports give 

 him a complete report on the sample but a prodigious memory and a sixth 

 sense born of years at his job often tell him whether the rubber will make a 

 good tire." But this is hardly the way the future engineer will judge. It is 

 hoped that the present account has helped to point out how scientific meth- 

 ods are being applied and how research can supply a safe guide to the wise 

 control and application of synthetic materials. 



Acknowledgement 



The author wishes to express his thanks to Dr. W. O. Baker for valuable 

 comments on the manuscript and for assistance in preparing the figures. 



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